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Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) extends Rothmans offer pending Investment Canada review 

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE / Euronext Paris: PM) announced today that it has extended the expiry of its CAD $30.00 per share cash offer to purchase all of the outstanding common shares of Rothmans Inc. (Rothmans).

The extension is procedural, being related to the last remaining regulatory approval required for the transaction, namely a determination of net benefit by the Minister of Industry pursuant to the Investment Canada Act.

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Smoking bylaw begins in Okotoks 

Smokers in Okotoks are facing new rules on where and when they can light up.

Starting Monday, the town is banning smoking in vehicles when someone under 16 is inside.

Okotoks is the first Alberta community to pass this bylaw.

Similar provincial laws exist in B.C., Nova Scotia and Ontario.

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DIOTTE: Tobacco tax hikes just hurt the poor 

Smoking is an unhealthy, highly addictive behaviour that kills people.

Still, tobacco is a legal product and governments make more money from it than tobacco companies.

The hypocrisy is governments pass laws meant to stop people from smoking, and bow down to pressure from professional lobby groups such as Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

That's the group that helped convince Alberta politicians to last year enact the toughest tobacco law in Canada.

Retailers must hide that legal product behind cabinets or curtains and people aren't allowed to puff in the outdoors within five metres of a building's entrance. . . .

Hagen contends the government could hike the taxes and then offset that by giving more grants for affordable housing and paying for smoking cessation drugs.

Yeah, like that's going to happen.

If governments were serious about wiping out smoking, they'd quit pimping the product. Until then, they shouldn't punish the poor with yet another tax hike.

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EDITORIAL: Plenty to fume about 

For a province doing so well in many statistical indicators, Saskatchewan can take no pride at all in one published recently.

According to Statistics Canada, around 24 per cent of Saskatchewanians are "current smokers" -- the highest rate in the country.

Nationally, 19 per cent of respondents described themselves as smokers; the lowest rate was in B.C., at only 14 per cent.

It gets worse. The survey indicates Saskatchewan has the highest proportion of youth (between 15 and 19) who smoke -- at 22 per cent. (The national average is 15.2 per cent).

That is particularly bad news because conventional wisdom in treating the addiction called smoking holds that it's in the teen years that lifelong smokers are created. . . . .

The best way to cut tobacco use is not by outlawing it (that would only lead to smuggling), but convincing people that it's in their best interest to quit using tobacco -- or never start.

So with the goal of reducing tobacco use -- and therefore future health-care costs -- the best approach today may be a focus on imaginative and persistent educational and advertising programs to warn off new users, and help long-time users to quit.

It may seem costly, but over the long term this will save us much health-care money, and many lives.

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• Minister of National Revenue unveils a new state-of-the-art excise stamp to combat contraband tobacco 

The Honourable Gordon O'Connor, Minister of National Revenue, today unveiled a new state-of-the-art tool to target the market of contraband and counterfeit tobacco in Canada.

"Our Government takes the issues of tobacco contraband and counterfeit very seriously," said Minister O'Connor. "While the new tobacco stamp will not single-handedly resolve all those issues, it is a key element in the government's overall strategy to combat this illicit activity. We are all working together as a government to deliver on our commitment to keep our communities safe and secure."

"Illicit cigarette manufacturing and sales represent a significant threat to the safety and security of our communities and to our economy," said the Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety. "Trafficking in contraband tobacco fuels other illegal activities by organized crime, such as drug trafficking and gun smuggling. The new tobacco stamp will strengthen the ongoing efforts of law enforcement to prevent the production and distribution of illicit tobacco."

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• Revenue agency introduces new tobacco stamp to combat contraband 

The federal government has introduced a new excise duty stamp aimed at discouraging illegal tobacco sales.

Revenue Minister Gordon O'Connor says the new stamp will not solve the problem single-handedly, but he says it's a key element in government efforts to eliminate contraband. . . .

The stamp contains several security features, much like those found on currency.

It will allow authorities to more easily identify legitimate tobacco products and detect counterfeit or contraband products.

The agency has also increased audits of tobacco manufacturers and monitoring of tobacco growers.

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Media Advisory - Minister of National Revenue addresses contraband tobacco 

The Honourable Gordon O'Connor, Minister of National Revenue will make an important announcement regarding the Government of Canada's fight against contraband and counterfeit tobacco.

Canada Revenue Agency officials will be available to the media for technical briefings following the presentation.

<< Date: Thursday, September 4, 2008

Time: 9:30 a.m. (EST)

Location: Main Lobby, Connaught building

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Tobacco Women Meet Tonight in Delhi  

The Tobacco Women of Ontario will meet again tonight in Delhi. Last Monday, they met with Elgin-Middlesex-London MP Joe Preston in St Thomas to discuss the layout of the Federal buyout plan for tobacco growers. Member Karen Csoff says they'll continually seek details of the Federal funding announced earlier this month, because as of now, the issue is simply not finished. Csoff adds they're disappointed with Ontario's notion last week that a Provincial buyout is "out of order" at this time.

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• When it comes to butting out, B.C. teens are leaders of the pack 

B.C. teens are leading the way across Canada when it comes to not smoking, likely spurred on by grisly warnings on cigarette packets and a ban on lighting up indoors.

Only nine per cent of 15- to 19-year-olds in B.C. habitually lit up in 2007, compared with 12.4 per cent the year before and 15 per cent across the country, according to a Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring survey . . .

And it's not just teens who are butting out.

According to the survey, B.C. boasts the lowest overall smoking rate in the country at 14.4 per cent.

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• Cigarette packs need to have horrific graphics to deter teens: research 

Graphic health warnings need to cover almost the entire surface of cigarette packages if they are to become more effective in convincing smokers to kick the deadly habit, new Health Canada research found.

The department set out to find out whether increasing the warning size from the current level - 50 per cent of the panel's surface - to 75, 90 or 100 per cent of cigarette packages would have a greater effect on smokers.

The research, conducted by Montreal-based polling firm Createc on behalf of Health Canada, found that increasing the size of health warning to cover 75 per cent of cigarette packages would only have a "small impact" and over time would unlikely remain more effective than the current coverage of 50 per cent.

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Quitting real solution to contraband cigarette problem, Schabas says  

Ottawa has committed $20 million to help stamp out the contraband cigarette trade, but that would be unnecessary if smokers did the smart thing — quit.

Local medical officer of health Dr. Richard Schabas applauded the Ottawa initiative, but he stressed quitting is the real solution.

But, Schabas conceded, it is tough to do.

“The problem with smoking is it’s an addiction ... and addictions are very hard to break,” he said. “Almost all smokers become addicted (when) they are teenagers.”

Help is on the way for those who wish to quit — the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health will be in Belleville and Trenton, Sept. 15, to begin a study into stopping smoking.

Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients — the STOP study — provides nicotine replacement therapies and counselling support to eligible participants who want to quit.

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Anti-smoking campaigns apparently have little effect on youth 

Smoking rates in Alberta among youth are rising above the national average even though the province has spent millions of dollars trying to get people to quit, new figures released by Health Canada suggest.

New data from the 2007 Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey suggest that the number of young smokers in Alberta has increased: 20.1 per cent of surveyed Albertans between the ages of 15 of 19 said they smoke. The national average for that age range is 15.2 per cent.

In 2006, Alberta's average for 15-to-19-year-olds was also 15.2 per cent, nearly matching the national average. However, the statistical confidence intervals for the 2006 and 2007 figures overlap, meaning the observed jump in the youth smoking rate could derive simply from a statistical anomaly.

"We are definitely concerned about the rate of smoking among young people aged 15 to 19. It should be much lower than the smoking rate of the general population, in my view, and it should not be the same rate as adult smoking," said Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, an Alberta anti-smoking organization.

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Stratford's tobacco-free policy praised as role model for other communities 

The Council for a Smoke-Free P.E.I. has recognized the Town of Stratford for creating a community-wide tobacco-free policy.

Each year at its annual general meeting the council honours an Island individual, community group or organization that has played a significant role in tobacco control on Prince Edward Island.

“The council is very pleased to present this award to the Town of Stratford,” says council president Dawn Binns.

“By adopting a tobacco-free policy, Stratford has become a role model for other Island communities who wish to support healthy environments for their citizens.

“The P.E.I. Recreation and Facilities Association has also been working to adopt tobacco-free policies in various Island communities, such as Borden-Carleton and the City of Summerside through the Tobacco-Free Recreation in Sport Mandate.” . . .

“We recognize that the exposure to tobacco smoke is hazardous to the health of our citizens, non-smokers and smokers alike,” said Stratford Mayor Kevin Jenkins.

“The Town of Stratford is responsible to ensure that our residents, employees, volunteers and visitors are not exposed to harmful situations. By moving towards a tobacco-free community, we are living up to that responsibility and making Stratford an even better place to live, work and play.”

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BREAKENRIDGE: Crossing the line from anti-smoking to anti-smoker  

Anti-tobacco groups have been remarkably patient and persistent -- by taking it one battle at a time and never letting up, they've amassed quite an array of policy achievements. . . .

The Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta is calling on the provincial government to enact a further increase in tobacco taxes -- working out to about $2 per package of cigarettes. As we debate the merits of this proposal (so far, the government seems unconvinced) we should ask this question: Who are we protecting and what are we protecting them from? . . .

Also, an op-ed last year in the New Zealand Medical Journal observed that "smokers pay more in cigarette taxes than they ever cost the public purse."

On the consumption side, the case is more complex than the pro-tax increase side would admit.

There is conflicting research on just how price-sensitive teens are when it comes to tobacco. There are some groups of smokers -- including it would seem some sub-groups of teens -- who appear to be unaffected by price increases.

Research led by McMaster University health economist Philip DeCicca suggests peer pressure and peer acceptance may be more relevant factors for teen smokers. Moreover, DeCicca's research has found taxation has little impact on whether teens start smoking, leading him to conclude that "price hikes are not a very effective tool to discourage youth smoking."

At the risk of embracing the status quo, I would argue that tobacco taxes are high enough. When it comes to minors, let's focus on education and enforcement.

Children need protection -- informed, consenting (albeit unwise) adults do not.

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LETTER: Lowering tobacco taxes not a cure for contraband  

The reduction of tobacco taxes in the 1990s was disastrous to public health. The implementation of lower taxes slowed the rate of decline in the number of smokers by enticing more nonsmokers to take up smoking and leading fewer people to quit. Since 30 per cent of cancer deaths are caused by tobacco, clearly the slow-down had a tragic effect on cancer prevention.

Low tobacco taxes in Ontario have not curbed contraband. .. .

The Canadian Cancer Society has proposed effective solutions that would result in a reduction of contraband tobacco. For example, the government could make it illegal to supply raw materials such as filters to illegal manufacturers. Political pressure could also be applied on U. S. officials to shut down illegal cigarette manufacturing operations that are shipping illegal product into Canada. These and other solutions would protect public health by preventing the sale of cheap, illegal contraband tobacco.

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